Joaquin Phoenix Character Quotations

In most films - especially in regards to the protagonist - really from the get-go they set up some scenario that endears that character to the audience. Or imbues him with some nobility or heroism or something.

You see so many earnest characters in movies all the time, everyone has a purpose.

I don't bring my life into a character at all.

Getting into the character is difficult and letting go of your life and the things that kind of define you, whatever it is in life that's your daily routine because you sort of find yourself in this other life and that's difficult and the other end is difficult.

I still have a hard time saying who Johnny [ Cash ] is in one sentence. He seemed so contradictory in his actions, and I think that's probably what is most fascinating about him and what made him such an interesting character to study.

Every single movie that I've ever done has affected my life; I always feel more changed by a character than I affect them or change them, always. I mean, that's just kind of the way it is.

The expectation is this low, gravelly voice for John, but I went through his early recordings and there were songs in there where the voice was so different, I wasn't even sure if it was him singing, ... So it was interesting to me that we would see him develop the Man in Black sound. I thought it was really important that his voice change as his persona slowly solidified. The music was really the doorway into the character.

In every film, whether it's a fictional character or not, you create an idea of the character and for me I always do a bad impersonation to start with.

The less someone knows about me, the better, because my intention is to play a variety of characters.